Flat Eric's 130 day challenge

Flat_Eric

It has been 26 days since I started my challenge and as I have already mentioned, it hasn't been the complete success I had hoped for.

I do have a small number of successes to report this week though.

Firstly the new tTetris Party Deluxe game is out on Amaz%n. I loved Tetris when i was younger, and when this game was released in the States in June, I was checking on Amaz*n almost daily to see if the UK version was out yet. Well it was released on 6 September and was priced at £17.99. I was very tempted to order it ..... but then I remembered (1) about my challenge and (2) how sick my bank balance and credit card are at the moment so I have resisted. A week later, I am not missing having the game and although I have just been on Amaz*n a moment ago and seen that the game is now only £14.91, Im still not allowing myself to buy it. What I might allow myself to do is convert my nectar points into amazon gift vouchers and use them....

In other news, my Avon rep delivered the latest cataloge in which was a lovely purple %asis watch. Cost just £20 (£10 off the RRP of £30). It was a really nice watch and I was really tempted except I don't wear a watch (the straps irritate my skin) and the occasions when I might wear a watch are few and far between. STILL i was tempted but I made the decision that I would wait until it reduces in price again/wait and ask for it as an xmas present.

finally, I have been on cafe w0rld this morning and was very very temped to buy some cash so I could finish off the catering feature. Except Im banned from that so again I reminded myself (by looking at my sick bank account) that I had no money to do this !

I thought 130 days of no spending would be easy, clearly I was wrong ! If I want to aim for a year's no spending next year then clearly I have my work cut out ! With two weeks till pay day, my bank account is not as I would like it but I do feel reassured to an extent that it it could be in a much worse state if i had been doing my usual trick of buying all and sundry on ebay !! I hope you are all having a good weekend.

searching_me

flat eric no its not easy but your brain seems to be retraining itsself very well .. you've thought before you've spent it and thats the main point to NS thinking do you really honestly need or want .. i admit i give in to wants sometimes i dont know anyone that hasnt from a choccie bar to a dvd or ebay (that temptress) ... but its knowing when do say no .. self restraint ... just because you have the cake doesnt mean you have to eat the whole thing in one go (unless its chocolate fudge cake heehee) ...

we're having a quiet saturday .. watching films and playing games i do need to go shop for ahem .. female products but if im correct i may have a couple in one of my bags so dont actually have to get anything til tomorrow when i leave work ... i will be buying a few telegraphs for the bodyshop vouchers but will be using the vouchers for xmas stuff .. i will admit i treated myself to a bottle of wine and diet coke yesterday but it was treat day and it was a reward for doing 3 5k runs in a week x

searching_me

after much thinking ive decided not to get the bodyshop vouchers .. moneys tight this month so id rather use the money to get a birthday card and a little something for OHs birthday next sunday .. DD is making OHs card ... i was thinking of doing hand/foot prints and frame them from the kids as a present .. lovely HM present i think x

foxgloves

Flat Eric, this is a great thread. I totally agree with you that easy availability of credit has really changed people's concept of the value of money. I first got overdrawn as a student in the 80s. I moved to a big city from a small rural town & there was just so much to buy! I can remember my student bank account did have a small overdraft facility of 50 quid but I soon went over that. I can remember asking the bank if my overdraft limit could be increased to 200. I had to have an appointment with the bank manager. He sat behind his desk & buzzed through to a clerk to bring in a copy of my latest bank statement. He went through it & commented that I 'seemed to do alright for a while then went mad with my spending'. I remember that I had a terrible cold at the time and actually sat with a huge pile of tissues in my lap as I grovelled to him to let me have an overdraft of 200 quid just while I got my spending sorted out! I never did budget. I graduated in debt, was lucky to find work instantly and just continued spending over my means. Then the credit boom came & instead of being encouraged to cut back by the bank, I had my overdraft limit increased to 500 then started being offered loans, credit cards, etc. I refused their offer of a credit card for years. Why would they offer me one, I thought, when it's so clear I have no intention of budgetting? Of course all they were interested in by then was making as much money as possible from the interest. When I met my partner, he was even worse than me....I'd have to say I reconnected again with the value of money when I added up everything we were paying out each month to service debts and realised what a complete waste of money it was. Husband had his LBM a bit later. Now if we want a bigger purchase, we talk about where the money is going to come from and discuss that fact that if we have THIS, we won't be able to have THAT, and often we don't buy whatever it is at all. We stopped frittering so everything could be thrown into paying off debts. Almost paid everything off now and finally, over 20 years after I first got into debt at age 19, I budget every month. I love crafting too, but foound I'd actually got loads of craft stuff around the house already. At the moment, I'm knitting lots of bright funky little baby & toddler socks for some craft stalls my sister's doing and all the wool I'm using is what I already had leftover from other projects. So something that was sitting in a crate doing nothing is hopefully going to make me a bit of extra money. It's hard not to get tempted sometimes but seeing the debt go down & down is such a fabulous feeling, you can't help but want to stick at it. Best of luck with it. Loved your post.

searching_me

right dont have many pennies left so have behave myself ...... need bread and milk tried to think ways round it but DS needs milk so have to .. got friends coming on the weekend and they're paying for themselves and for us to have a meal so free weekend x

nattyt

Well i am still doing well. Have only fallen off the wagon a couple of times! One takeaway and some cream cakes for me and DD1! Made lots of treat type stuff for kids instead of the rip off stuff you buy so thats good. I have no excuse as i've got the time. Am totally addicted to Flylady thread......maybe this has replaced my spending addiction!!!! Want to buy a storage unit for kids but feel this is necessary. Going away this weekend and going to enjoy it!!! xxx

searching_me

hey natty glad you're doing well ... doing ok here i ended up buying clothes but managed to buy 2 full outfits using codes and charity shops for £23-24 .. but in that i got a pair of criminal damage jeans brand new worth £35 for £3.99 with tag on sooooo happy .. so thats definately enough to get by ..

sorting out xmas and cut the cost of everything we dont really need and combained OHs and DD presents as they sort of want the same thing .. ive shopped around for DS and found cheaper ...

by the end of this work period i should of done at least an extra 10-12 hours hoping to squeeze in a few more but not sure ..

OHs friends are coming on the weekend but they've done there tesco shop ready to be delivered when they get here .. how lovely of them to be honest very glad as we've just got enough to get us through the next week til OH gets paid .. they're should be some left hopefully at the end of this month :eek: :rotfl: x

miss_empty_piggy

miss_empty_piggy wrote: »

The plan is:

* No spends on toiletries/makeup unless necessary (i.e. use the brown mascara instead of buying new black one!) I really want to buy a new mascara as mine is rubbish - will wait until I have enough boots points to buy one, or might ask for one for my birthday this month!!!
* No spends on household cleaning products unless necessary - I often find myself in Wilkinsons (1/2 minute from home) and lugging home a massive bag full of cleaning stuff costing 10-15 pounds when I already have enough stuff in to do the jobs needed. Shame on me, did spend on cleaning stuff, didn't spend too much but did still double up! Doh! Must work harder on this.
* No spends on clothes for me or 2DDs unless absolutely necessary. Can't afford to go out so this shouldn't be too much of a problem. Besides we all have a wardrobe full of clothes (I need to loose weight to get in to most of mine, so there's another challenge). I haven't bought myself anything at all. Bought DD1&2 new shoes (necessary though) and some clothes for £1/2 each in the sales and all were needed.
* No spends on jewellry (love jewellry but feel I have enough to compliment my current wardrobe so should be ok) Bought no jewellry at all!!!
* No spends on unnecessary food. Kids and dbf LOVE the cupboards and fridge to be FULL (I think it makes them feel good about having lots of choice) I will aim to shop once a week as am now back at work and the kids are back at school soon too. DD1 is going to seniors and will be having hot dinners (which I pay for on a card so will have to organise a suitable budget for that otherwise she'll rob me blind unintentionally of course); DD2 hates hot dinners and is very rigid: ham sandwich, crisps and a drink. She will not have anything else so should be ok there. Will also start to use slo cooker more as is so economical and easy to have hot dinner when walk in the door. Yay! Have bought food for DD2's birthday but that was necessary and there is lots left over. Have only really thrown away 1 pack of bacon and 1 pack of sausages which were out of date. Need to keep a closer eye on this as I could have cooked them and frozen them!! Haven't used slow cooker at all this month, but as it's getting chillier I think this will change this month.
* Will not spend any money on takeaways despite being too tired to cook. Have bought no takeaways at all.
* Will not spend money on unnecessary book, DVDs videos etc. My sister lent me a brilliant book which, and only bought books and DVDs as DDs birthday presents.
* Will not spend money on entertaining the children. Will do bike rides and play games, make christmas stuff etc or bake - all equally as good as "Big Fun" or the pictures. Did still go one night, took my eye off the ball and had forgotten...ggrrr
* Will use coal fire (once got chimney swept) as most of the fuel was free ( may need some coal to keep it going but will use it to the minimum). Still need to get chimney swept - must do that soon as it is getting colder. Had heating on a couple of times.
* Will drive slowly or walk/use bikes when possible. Have started to driver slower - haven't used bikes at all. Still need to get helmets for DDs.

Not sure what else at the moment, but that's it for me.

Here goes!!

Good morning everyone
After updating my spread sheet for the month had a look back on here to review where I am with the challenge. As you can see from the above there is some success, some areas for improvements. Well I guess rome wasn't built in a day. :rotfl:

Flat_Eric

Hi everyone :wave:

I'm sorry I haven't posted in ages. Its all been a bit hectic recently and I have also been away on holiday - so no access to my computer.

I am afraid to report that I seem to have :wall: with my challenge. Prior to my holiday, there were clear breaches of my challenge which included cafe world purchases (seriously what was i thinking???) then there was the book order from amazon (well I wanted something good to read on holiday didn't I and the new shopaholic book was out ? (ironic rather don't you think?!) Oh and there was the odd euro million lucky dip ! and theres a game for my nintendo ive placed on pre-order from amazon ??!!

Anyway, as I said when I fell of the wagon previously, it wouldn't be fair on you guys if I wasn't completely honest with you all. The holiday was lovely but at the same time frustrating because I hadn't saved for it and everything seemed so expensive. I did see a nice new handbag while I was on holiday and almost had my purse out but then I thought about it, looked at the price tag (£45), remembered about my challenge, remembered about my current credit card balance, thought about how practical the bag was and decided I didn't really need it/couldn't justify the price tag so I left it on its shelf ! I did feel rather pleased with myself and resisted the urge to go back and get it before I left!

Its really really tempting now that I have fallen off the wagon to have one last splurge before getting back on track! Ive just looked at a boxset Im interested in on amazon but its £50 and its £50 I don't have. I have £50 of my bank's money but I need to wake up the fact that my credit card is actually a debt card.

Its 82 days until the end of the year. Whilst up until now the challenge hasn't been too successful, I intend to try hard to ensure these 82 days are a no spend success and that come the beginning of 2011 that I start in a better financial position than if I allow myself to keep spending and to fall back into bad habits.....

wish me luck...

jodie264

Loved the post - work almost no existent from Jan and COULD draw teachers pension early but this has given me food for thought. If I can get into good habits now I may be able to delay drawing it and learn to live off much less....only thing is it would be the taking up of crafts etc that would fill the no work gap - oh and the probably having to stop smoking too. Can relate to nearly all your list - feel like a kindred spirit and going to give it a go. Will be starting with NOT spending on holiday. Spent £2,500 on a hol for partner, daughter and grandaughter then work dried up due to spending cuts (I'm self employed). Always go over the top with jewellery and other unecessary bargains...think that word will now be off limits....a bargain will now be NOT havinhg bought something and therefore a bargain saved for the future. Will post when I get back and let you know if I managed it.